The Sydney Opera House
Geographical position
| latitude and longitude (decimal) : -33.856808 , 151.215264
The landscape of the largest Australian city - Sydney - is uniquely recognizable among thousands of other cities in the world thanks to just two elements: an arched bridge Harbor Bridge and the extraordinary building of the multidisciplinary theater, better known as " Opera House» ( Opera house), one of the most famous buildings in world architecture.
Sydney Opera theatre recently celebrated its 40th anniversary on a grand scale, but its history begins much earlier. Back in 1954 Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the New South Wales Conservatory put forward the idea of creating the Sydney Opera House. The state government has chosen a site for the future building and announced an open international competition on best project for the opera house.
In Sydney harbor Bennelong Point once there was a fort, later there was a tram depot. It was decided to erect a spectacular building on this site, which will become the face of the city.
By December 1956, 233 applications had already been received from 28 countries. According to legend, the jury had already significantly narrowed the circle of applicants, rejecting most of the projects, when the famous American architect of Finnish origin joined the ranks of the judges. Eero Saarinen. It was he who discerned among the rejected options the “clear favorite” - the project of the Dane Jorn Utzon (Jorn Utzon), essentially insisting on his victory. On January 29, 1957, the winner was named - an expressive system of either shells or sails, drawn by Uthon. 
In the 1950s there was a change in world architectural preferences: the boring conservative-industrial “international style” with characteristic reinforced concrete “boxes” was replaced by something completely different, expressed in spectacular clean lines of curvilinear forms of clearly natural, organic origin. A new style called "structural expressionism" or "structuralism". One of his adherents was the same jury member Ero Saarinen, who insisted on the victory of the project, now considered an "icon" of structuralism. 
The architect decided to make the roofs of the Sydney Opera House from segments of a spherical shape, of constant curvature. A little later, Jorn Utzon will say that the inspiration was the peel of an orange, shot in triangular segments. The difference with the building is only in scale. An orange for the Opera House would have a diameter of 150 m, and its crust would be concrete, covered with azulejo tiles. The building covers an area of 2.2 hectares. Its length is 185, and the maximum width is 120 m.
Numerous difficulties arose during the implementation of the project, which led to delays, significant revisions of the original plan and large financial costs. Instead of the planned four years and seven million Australian dollars, the opera was under construction for fourteen years and cost $102 million (that is, it exceeded the initial budget by more than 14.5 (!) times).
The Sydney Opera House was opened on October 20, 1973 by the Queen Elizabeth II.
Perfectly flat roofs Sydney Opera cover over a million tiles. Under different lighting, the tiles create a different color scheme and they play beautifully sun glare reflected from the water. 
The two largest vaults form the ceiling of the Concert Hall ( concert hall) and the Opera House ( opera theater). In other rooms, the ceilings form clusters of smaller vaults. In the smallest "shell" away from the main entrance and the main staircase is the Bennelong restaurant. 
Opera house has always attracted increased attention professionals. In 2003, architect Jörn Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize Nobel Prize in architecture).
Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia) - repertoire, ticket prices, address, phone numbers, official website.
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Cruise ship passengers on the approach to the Sydney Harbor Bridge see huge sails billowing to the left side of the board. Or is it the wings of a giant shell? Or maybe the skeleton of a prehistoric whale washed ashore? Neither one nor the other, nor the third - in front of them is the building of the Opera House, the symbol of Australia's largest city. Sun glare reflected from the water wanders along the roof, painting it in different colors, hundreds of tourists on the embankment admire the views of the bay, ships and yachts passing nearby.
A bit of history
In 1955, the government of New South Wales announced an international competition for the best project for an opera house for its capital. Among the 233 Constructivist concrete boxes, the complex system of curved surfaces, drawn by the Dane Jorn Watson, stood out sharply. New architectural style would later be called Structuralism or Structural Expressionism. The author received the Pritzker Prize for his project, an analogue of the Nobel Prize for architects, and the building is included in the List world heritage UNESCO during the lifetime of the author.
Watson did not see his creation complete. The reason, as always, is money. The preliminary estimate turned out to be 15 times lower, the architect was not allowed to complete the construction and was not even paid the full fee. He managed to build only an unusual roof, and other people were engaged in finishing the facade and interior. Later, on the eve of the Olympics, the Australians offered Watson any money for him to return and complete what he started. But he proudly refused.
Theater architecture and interior
The huge building is surrounded by water on three sides and stands on deeply driven piles. 2 million matte ceramic tiles cover the concrete roof as high as a 22-story building. The changing angle of the sun's rays paints it in different colors. Absolutely fantastic evening illumination turns the building into a shining gem. The roof surface often serves as a screen for demonstrating video art and color and music compositions.
One of the two largest "shells" hides the Concert Hall for 2679 spectators with a magnificent organ of 10 thousand pipes. Under the other is the Opera Hall with 1547 seats. Its stage is adorned with a tapestry curtain woven in Aubuisson, it is called the "Curtain of the Sun".
The sound under the magnificent roof was monstrously distorted. Acousticians had to build insulating ceilings over the halls and shape the interior with these features in mind.
The third hall with a capacity of 544 people is reserved for the Drama Theater. Its stage is hidden behind the Curtain of the Moon, also from French masters. 4th is for lectures and film demonstrations. In the 5th avant-garde theater troupes perform experimental performances. In the smallest sink, a little to the side, there is a Bennelong restaurant.
Today Opera House is the main Cultural Center Not just Sydney, but all of Australia. Every day there are performances on its stages, orchestras perform, and art exhibitions are held in the foyer.
Practical Information
Address: Sydney NSW 2000, Bennelong Point. Website (in English).
How to get there: by train, bus or ferry to transfer hub Circular Quay, then walk along the embankment for 10 minutes (800 m), of. Sidney Trains website (in English)
Location: Australia, Sydney
Construction: 1959 - 1973
Architect: Jorn Utzon
Coordinates: 33°51"25.4"S 151°12"54.6"E
The whole world admires the building of the Sydney Opera House. Against the backdrop of skyscrapers and yachts, the theater looks like an elegant stone Flower, built of petal walls. Sometimes the domes of the building are compared with the wings of huge sea shells or wind-blown sails.
Sydney Opera House aerial view
The analogies are justified: this unusual building with a sail-like roof is located on a rocky promontory, crashing into the bay. The Sydney Opera House is known not only for its original roof structure, but also for its magnificent interiors, made in futuristic style titled "Space Age Gothic". It is in the building of the Sydney Opera House that the world's largest theater curtain- each of its halves is equal to 93 sq.m. Sydney Theater boasts the world's largest organ, with 10,500 pipes.
The importance of the House of the Muses in Sydney's life cannot be overestimated. Under one roof there is a concert hall with 2679 seats and an opera house with 1547 seats. for dramatic and musical performances allotted " small stage"- another hall designed for 544 spectators. There is also a cinema hall with 398 seats. The venue with a capacity of 210 people is used for conferences. The theater complex, which is visited annually by about 2 million people, is complemented by a recording studio, a library, art mini-halls, restaurants and cafes.
Sydney Opera House - a masterpiece of Danish architect
Utzon The English conductor and composer Eugene Goossens, who was invited to Sydney in 1945 to record a concert cycle, inspired the creation of the Sydney theater. The musician discovered that the inhabitants of the former British colony showed a keen interest in music, but there was no suitable hall for performances of opera and ballet on the entire continent.
In those days, concerts were held in the city hall, whose architecture resembled a "wedding cake" in the style of the Second Empire, with poor acoustics and a hall for 2.5 thousand listeners. "The city needs new theater that all of Australia would be proud of!” Sir Eugene Goossens said.
880 specialists from 45 countries took part in the competition for the best project, but only 230 of them made it to the final. The winner was 38-year-old Dane Jorn Utzon. It is difficult to say what could have been built on the site of the building crowned with “sail-domes” if the American architect Erro Saarinen had not been the chairman of the selection committee, who insisted that such an extraordinary project win the competition. According to Utzon himself, original idea came to him when he was peeling an orange and assembled a full sphere from hemispherical orange peels. The construction of the Sydney Opera House, which began in 1959, dragged on and lasted 14 instead of the planned 4 years.
Money was sorely lacking, and expenses grew at an accelerated pace. It was necessary to attract investors, which led to a revision of the original design of the building in favor of commercial space reserved for restaurants and cafes. “A little more, and the building will turn into a swollen square, into a stamped living box!” Utzon exclaimed indignantly. The total amount spent on the construction of the Sydney Opera House ($102 million) was 15 times the projected amount ($7 million). The Cabinet, accused of "unnecessarily inflated spending and unreasonably long construction", resigned, and the architect himself, in desperation, burned the drawings and resolutely left Sydney.
Opening of the Sydney Opera House
Facade works and interior decoration ended 7 years after Utzon's resignation. In October 1973, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of England, the theater was solemnly opened, and the first performance given on the stage of the Sydney House of Muses was Sergei Prokofiev's opera War and Peace. In 2003, Utzon received the prestigious Pritzker Prize for his theater project, and in 2007 the Sydney Opera House was declared a World Heritage Site. But, alas, Utzon's resentment against the Australian authorities turned out to be so great that he never returned to Sydney and died in 2008 without seeing the completed opera house in all its glory.
There are rather conflicting opinions about the most famous building in Australia - the Sydney Opera House. Some consider it a magnificent monument to a frozen melody. Others are embarrassed by the amazingly shaped roof of this structure: to some it resembles huge shells, to some it resembles the sails of the Galleon inflated by the wind, someone associates them with ears listening to the singing of angels, and there is also an opinion that the Sydney theater is very similar to stranded white whale.
In a word, there are as many opinions as there are people, but no one doubts the fact that the Sydney Opera House is a man-made symbol of Australia.
This amazing building is located in Sydney, the most major city Australia, in the harbor of Bennelong Point (on the map it can be found at the following coordinates: 33° 51′ 24.51″ S, 151° 12′ 54.95″ E).
The Sydney Opera House gained world fame primarily due to its roof, made in the form of sails (shells) of different sizes arranged one after another, which make it unlike any other theater in the world. The facade of the opera turned out to be so interesting, unusual, and therefore recognizable, which is considered one of the most outstanding buildings. modern architecture, which has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List for several years now.
The creator of this unique building, Jorn Watson, is the only person in a world whose work this organization recognized during his lifetime (he died a year after this event, in 2008).
Description
The opera house in Australia is primarily unusual in that, unlike other structures of this type, made in classical style, represents bright pattern expressionism, demonstrating A New Look to architecture. Sydney Opera House with three parties surrounded by water, and itself erected on stilts.
The area of the theater is huge and amounts to 22 thousand m2: its length is 185 m, width is 120 m, and in the building itself there is a huge number of rooms, including several theater halls, many small studios and theater platforms, as well as restaurants, bars and shops where anyone can buy a memento of visiting the theater.
The main rooms are four halls:
- The Concert Hall is the largest room in the theatre, capable of accommodating 2679 spectators. It is here that the world's largest organ is installed: it consists of 10 thousand pipes;
- Opera House - 1507 spectators fit in this hall, and on its stage you can see not only opera, but also ballet;
- Drama theater - designed for 544 people;
- Small Drama Stage - designed for 398 people and is considered the most comfortable room in the opera.
sail roof
The most remarkable part of the building, thanks to which the Sydney Opera House has become one of the most interesting theaters in the world, is its roof, made in the form of shells or sails arranged one after another. The roof, which is 67 meters high and 150 meters in diameter, consists of more than 2,000 sections and weighs about 30 tons.
The structure is fixed with metal cables, the total length of which is 350 km. The two main sinks are above the two largest halls of the opera. Other sails are located above the smaller rooms, and one of the restaurants is located under the smallest one.
The tops of the washbasins are mechanically covered with polished white and cream matt tiles, resulting in a completely smooth surface, an effect that would hardly be achieved by laying it by hand. An interesting fact: despite the fact that from a distance it may seem that the roof is painted in White color, depending on the lighting, it constantly changes its shade.
Such a roof structure looks very beautiful and original, but during construction, due to the uneven height of the roof, there were problems with acoustics inside the building, and in order to solve the drawback, a sound-reflecting ceiling had to be made separately. For this, special gutters were made, capable of performing both practical and aesthetic function: Reflect sound and draw attention to the arches located above the front of the stage (the longest chute is about 42 meters long).
Idea author
Interesting fact: to build an opera house in Sydney was the idea of the British Sir Eugene Goossens, who arrived in Australia as a conductor to record a concert on the radio. One can only imagine his surprise when he discovered that there was no opera house in Sydney.
The city also lacked facilities designed for a large audience in which Sydney people could come to listen to music.
Therefore, the decision to do everything in order to build a theater in which the audience will have the opportunity to get acquainted with both classical and the latest musical works, was accepted promptly. He immediately began looking for a suitable place for construction - it turned out to be the rocky promontory of Bennelong Point, near which the embankment was located, which is a key node, since locals from ferries to trains or buses.
Having found a suitable place (there was a tram depot at that time, which was later demolished), Goossens conducted an appropriate campaign and, infecting many with his idea influential people Sydney, got the government to allow the construction of the Opera House. The authorities immediately announced an international competition for the best project. And then things stalled: Goossens had enemies. After one of the international trips, customs officers found the items of the “black mass”, fined him, fired him from his job - and he was forced to leave Australia, despite all the assurances that the things did not belong to him.
Contest
More than two hundred works from all over the world were sent to the competition. one more important point was that Goossens not only managed to select a qualified commission, but also gave a description of the competitive project.
The project was supposed to include two halls - one for larger, the second - for small productions. The building must have had rooms where rehearsals could be held, props stored, and a place for restaurants.
The task was complicated by the fact that the area on which it was planned to erect the structure had a rather limited size, since it was surrounded by water on three sides. Therefore, most of the projects were rejected for one simple reason: they looked too cumbersome, and the facade of the building was depressing.
And only one work attracted the attention of the jury members, forcing them to return to the project over and over again: in the sketch, the theaters were placed close to each other, the problem of bulkiness was removed by focusing on the white roof in the form of sails, and the author suggested storing the scenery and theatrical props in special recesses, thus solving the backstage problem.
The author of the work turned out to be the Dane Jorn Watson (this architect had many similar original projects, but this one turned out to be one of the few that was implemented). Despite the fact that the project presented by him was a sketch, the cost of the work was estimated at 7 million Australians. dollars, which was a reasonable price. The money to start construction was collected through a lottery.
Construction works
While the project was approved, it was obvious that more work should be done on it (some issues have not been resolved to this day). The main problem was how to make a non-standard roof, especially since there is no similar experience in the world. this moment didn't exist.
Watson solved this issue by shaping each sink into a triangle, assembling it from smaller, curved triangles that were mechanically tiled during fabrication. After that, the sails were installed on concrete ribs (frame ribs) arranged in a circle - this made it possible for the roof to get a complete and harmonious look.
This form gave rise to problems with the acoustics of the hall, which the architect managed to solve later, but it entailed considerable financial expenses (for example, since the new vault turned out to be much heavier than the previous one, it was necessary to blow up the already made foundation and start building a stronger and more durable one).
Instead of the estimated 7 million austral. USD construction cost 102 million. Construction proceeded at a very slow pace, which could not but attract the attention of local deputies and opponents of the architect.
And after the Labor Party, which supported the construction, lost the support of the population and the opposition came to power, the money received from the lottery was first frozen (fortunately, there was a pretext), and then they were completely used to build roads and hospitals, forcing Watson in 1966 quit your job and leave Sydney for good.
After that, Hall was appointed the chief architect, who, although he managed to complete the construction in 1973, but according to many experts, the work he carried out significantly spoiled the appearance of the building, and the interior turned out to be unremarkable ( interesting fact, during the preparation of the Olympics in Australia in 2000, the Australians invited Watson to return and finish work on the opera, agreeing to do whatever he says, but he refused).
And so it happened that the Sydney Opera House, which is one of the most magnificent buildings of our time, which is mentioned along with the Taj Mahal and other wonders of the world, although it looks great on the outside, it is no different inside. True, this did not prevent the building from taking part in the competition for the title of one of the seven wonders of the world and, although not being among the winners, was among the main contenders.
Basic facts:
- DATE 1957-1973
- STYLE Expressionist modern
- MATERIALS Granite, concrete and glass
- ARCHITECT Jorn Utson
- The architect has never been in a finished theater
Yacht sails, bird wings, seashells - all this can come to mind when you look at the Sydney Opera House. It has become a symbol of the city.
Sparkling white sails rise into the sky, and a massive granite base seems to be anchored to a straight strip of land, washed by the waters of Sydney Bay on three sides.
An amazing opera house appeared in the city after it was decided in the early 1950s that the city needed a proper performing arts center. In 1957 Danish architect Jorn Utson (born 1918) won an international design competition.
But the decision was ambiguous, because the construction involved unprecedented technical complexity - the engineers who worked on the project called it "a structure that can hardly be built."
Controversy and crisis
Utson's project was unique. he broke a lot of rules. Therefore, new technologies were required for construction, they had yet to be developed. In 1959, construction began, and it is not surprising that disputes and difficulties arose along with it.
When the new government tried to exploit the rising costs and constant political games, Utson was forced to leave Australia, this was in early 1966. For several months, people thought that the empty shells on the concrete podium would remain a giant unfinished sculpture.
But in 1973 the construction was finally completed, the interiors did not take so much time. The opera house opened in the same year, public support turned out to be strong, although Utson was not at the opening.
The building is made so that it can be viewed from any angle, even from above. In it, as in sculpture, you always see something elusive and new.
Three groups of connected shells hang over a massive base of granite slabs, where they are service premises– rehearsal and dressing rooms, recording studios, workshops and administrative offices. There is also Theatre of Drama and a small performance area.
Two main halls are located in the two main shells - a large concert hall, over which a ceiling of round segments hangs, and an opera house hall, where opera and ballet are shown.
The third group of shells contains a restaurant. The height of the shells is up to 60 meters, they are supported by ribbed concrete beams, similar to fans, and the thickness of their concrete walls is 5 centimeters.
The sinks are covered with matte and glossy ceramic tiles. On the other hand, all shells are closed glass walls, which look like glass waterfalls - from there stunning views of the entire area open up. From all the halls of the theater you can go to the common room below. in both main concert halls can also be accessed from the outside, through wide stairs.
The jury of the competition did not fail by choosing the project of the Sydney Opera House, although there are complex acoustics, and the simple atmosphere inside erases the impression of a masterpiece. Today, the Sydney Opera House is called one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century, the eighth wonder of the world, and it is almost impossible to imagine Sydney without it.
JORN UTSON
Jorn Utson was born in the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, in 1918. He studied as an architect in Copenhagen from 1937 to 1942, and then went to study in Sweden and the USA, and work with.
Utson developed an architectural style known as additive architecture. Utson worked a lot at home, studied theory, but his name is forever associated with the Sydney Opera House (although the difficulties with this project hurt his career and almost broke the life of an architect).
He also built the National Assembly of Kuwait and became famous throughout the world as the creator of impressive modern buildings, in which modernism is complemented by natural forms. Utson received many awards for his work.
The jury members appreciated Utzon's initial drawings, but for practical reasons, he replaced the original elliptical shell design with a design with uniform spherical fragments resembling orange peel. Due to numerous problems, Utzon left the project, and work on the glazing and interior was completed by the architect Peter Hall. But Utson received world fame and was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2003. In 2007 Sydney opera house included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The tallest concrete panel shell is equivalent to a 22-story building in height. On the outside, the shell is covered in a chevron pattern of over a million cream-colored tile pieces interspersed with pink granite panels. The inside of the building is clad in Australian birch plywood.
Everyone knows that the Sydney Opera House is real architectural symbol city that propelled the architect Jorn Utzon (1918-2008) to fame outside of his native Denmark. After the end of World War II, Utson traveled around Europe, the United States and Mexico, got acquainted with the works of Alvar Aalto and Frank Lloyd Wright, examined the ancient Mayan pyramids. In 1957 he won the competition for best design Sydney Opera House, after which he moved to Australia. Construction work began in 1959, but he soon ran into problems with the roof structure and attempts by the new government to persuade him to use certain suppliers. building materials. In 1966, he left the project and returned to his homeland. He was not invited to Grand opening in 1973, however, despite this, he was asked to redesign the reception hall, called the Utson Hall (2004). Later, he participated in the restoration of other fragments of the building.
Utson's departure caused a lot of rumors and hostility, and the appearance of Hall to complete the Project was received with hostility. Hall is the author of other administrative buildings, such as Goldstein College at the University of New South Wales (1964).
In 1960, during the construction of the Sydney Opera House, american singer and actor Paul Robeson performed Ol Man River at the top of the scaffolding during a construction lunch break.
